There is no certainty that the new finance arrangements will reduce inequalities in access to care
After a prolonged gestation, we are now witnessing the somewhat protracted birth of the Rudd Government’s health reform plan. To date, only the head of the new scheme has come into view.1 For those who remain anxious about the overall health of the infant, and indeed whether it has all of its necessary parts, we have been provided with an attractive slogan — “funded nationally and run locally” — rather than a clear blueprint for action.
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- 2. World Health Organization. The world health report 2000. Health systems: improving performance. Geneva: WHO, 2000.
- 3. National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission. A healthier future for all Australians: final report June 2009. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing, 2009. http://www.yourhealth.gov.au/internet/yourhealth/publishing.nsf/Content/nhhrc-report-toc (accessed Mar 2010).
- 4. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD health data 2009. Paris: OECD, 2009.
- 5. Hickie IB. National health reform: it’s time for a decision. Med J Aust 2009; 191: 382-383. <MJA full text>
- 6. Hickie IB, Groom GL, McGorry PD, et al. Australian mental health reform: time for real outcomes. Med J Aust 2005; 182: 401-406. <MJA full text>
I am a board member of headspace: Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation, a member of the clinical reference group for Bupa Australia, and a member of the National Advisory Council on Mental Health that reports to the federal Health Minister. I receive payments for my participation in each of these organisations.